The Best of Montreal in 2 Days ~ On and Off The Beaten Path

With only 2 days in Montreal we wanted to find the best sites, sounds and tastes of this popular Canadian destination.  After the first half of our trip to Canada, (Quebec City) was slightly tainted by a ginormous heat wave, massive numbers of cruise ship passengers and cancelled flights we were ready to take on Montreal at full tilt.  We had a great vantage point of the city and the St. Lawrence River from our 12th floor penthouse apartment so we were off to a good start.

I need to back track for a sec before I fill you in on all the fun to be found in Montreal.  We traveled from Quebec city to Montreal on the train. Via Rail Canada transported us from QC to Montreal in a little over 3 hours in total comfort.  Airlines should take note.  Train travel is so comfy with spacious seats, plenty of leg room and food that is more than decent. One thing that was a nice surprise – toilets that you can actually move around in.  If I’d have wanted to change clothes there was ample room for doing so.  Never have I seen that on a plane.  Maybe I’ve just not chosen the proper airline to fly with.

Gare du Palais – Quebec City Train Station

A fast train to Montreal!

We chose seats in business class where you are waited on hand and foot by lovely bilingual French/English speaking attendants.  In this affordable class there are choices in meals and beverages, reclining seats, foot rests, big windows with which to take in the scenery or shades if you need a nap.

Breakfast on the train. Cheese omelet with sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms and spinach, a slice of Canadian bacon, roasted potatoes, croissant and a lovely fruit bowl.

One of the highlights of our trip to Canada was being met by long-time friends from Texas when we arrived at the Montreal train station.  They greeted us as we hopped off the train and whisked us away to their beautiful home on Lac de Sables in Saint-Agathe-des Monts.  About an hour north of Montreal, where the air is clean and fresh and the temperatures hovered in the high 70’s during the day dropping into the 50’s in the evening.  What a delightful treat this was after experiencing the heat wave in QC.

Lac de Sables

After we arrived at their home we took in the view and then headed down to the boat for a spin around the lake.  This is quite a large lake with homes ranging from ostentatious to simple bungalow.  To each his own – they were all beautifuly positioned around the shores of Lac de Sables.

After enjoying the sunshine and cooler temperatures on our leisurely ride around the deep blue lake we headed back to enjoy the relaxing view and good company.  Our friends indulged us with our cocktails of choice, wine or beer and a delicious steak dinner complete with a view of the sunset over Lac de Sables.

We slept with our windows open to breathe the cool fresh air all night and secured some well deserved solid sleep.  The next morning we ate a fabulous breakfast at Restaurant des Monts, within walking distance of our friends lake home.  No English spoken here but they did have menus in English.  The highlight of my breakfast was the homemade rillettes and french style country bread called Capou ( not sure of the spelling).  The rillettes made fresh that morning were scrumptious and the toasted bread, that I’m not sure how to spell, was heavenly.

Breakfast at Restaurant des Monts

I would’ve been happy to have only eaten that combo for my morning meal. I also enjoyed Asparagus Benedict, while my husband and friends had huge plates piled high with 3 kinds of meats, eggs, toast and roasted potatoes. No chance we’d be hungry until dinner time and by then we’d be in Montreal.

Now if you have more than 2 days and are outdoorsy I suggest you consider a day trip out to the Laurentian Mountain area north of the city.  Rent a car, take the back roads and relax! Here is a link to a National Geographic article about the area.  There are many lakes and lovely green mountains, pure unpolluted air and no shortage of activities be it summer or winter!

So here are my thoughts with 2 days in Montreal, what to see or do on and off the beaten path. We made it into the city or the island as we heard it referred to early afternoon and easily found our accommodations for the duration of our stay.  As I mentioned with a 12th floor penthouse view things were looking good. We’d enjoyed our time in the mountainous lake region and decided to stick to enjoying nature and the outdoors with a hike up to Mount Royal an extinct volcano.  Situated west of downtown Montreal with outstanding views of the Saint Lawrence river and the city.  It was an excellent vantage point to get the lay of the land and plan the rest of our activities.

View from the top of Mont Royal where we sipped on ice cold lemonade and took in the expansive views.

Mount Royal Park inaugurated in 1876, was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the highly skilled designer behind New York’s Central Park. I would recommend taking in the view at Kondiaronk Belvedere, the largest lookout by the chalet while in Montreal.  There are many ways to reach the top.  One way is via a long flight of stairs, another is taking a gravel path, you can also drive and pay to park or do as we did and hike the steeper trails through the woods to reach the top.  I admit there were moments where I wanted to call it quits but once at the top all our hard work was worth it.  We took the stairs down! In winter the area is known for sledding, ice skating and snowshoeing and in the warmer months there’s plenty of hiking, bird watching and lovely Beaver Lake with a wide range of family friendly activities.

Of course you should take in “Old Town” and the Old Port.  This is where you will find boat tours, bicycles for rent, a super cool science center and a promenade to mosey down as you take in the Saint Lawrence.  The Old Port area is full of history around the port itself and the importance it played in trade all the way back to the 17th century.

Take a boat tour. We chose the environmentally friendly electric boat and learned about the history of the waterfront while taking in the city with a new perspective.

We found the architecture and cobbled streets in Old Montreal have been maintained or restored to keep the look of the city in its earliest days as a settlement.  There is no shortage of restaurants, cafes, bars and shopping along Saint-Paul street, Montreal’s second oldest with cobblestones dating to the late 1600’s.  We browsed through a few art galleries, cooled off with a gelato, took a boat ride and of course paid a visit to Notre Dame Basilica.

Well preserved architecture from days gone by.

The sun filters through Notre Dame Basilica.

A different view inside Notre Dame Basilica.

Notre Dame Basilica was certainly a beautiful, beautiful church and there is line and a fee to step inside.  We paid the price as it is a Neo-Gothic masterpiece, with an incredibly ornate alter and a golden saffron glow to the entire basilica.  Sit a while and look up and all around.  You’ll wish you could move your head like an owl to take it all in.

Alter of Notre Dame Basilica

I encourage you traverse the city like a local, familiarize yourself with the metro system and take advantage of its clean facilities that whisk you from place to place affordably.  We love to walk as it affords an immersion into a city that traveling by car can’t always provide.  However for the sake of time using the metro in Montreal was a welcome form of transportation.

When we travel to cities where there is a Chinatown we always try to spend a couple of hours surveying the area and of course trying the food.  Montreal’s Chinatown is lively and colorful with oodles of restaurants and shops.  We watched as one storefront offered handmade Dragon’s Bread candy with a unique way of taking money and making change.  In the photo below you can see coins lined up under a cloth where the money was exchanged.  The candy maker, with his flour covered hands and arms, would point to what coin or coins a customer should pick up as change.  Multi-tasking at it’s best!

In the plaza there were a handful of men and women practicing Tai Chi with no notice of the crowds moving through the area.  Around the corner from the plaza was a palm reader.  Now for some reason this caught my attention.  We spent a few moments watching as he read the palms of a 20 something girl while her friends looked on with anticipation.  She spoke his language so was easily able to converse with him on his findings.  We moved on to discover what must be the best noodle house in town with a line out the door and over an hour wait.  Unfortunately we didn’t wait but I suggest you make a point of going to Nouilles de Lan Zhou- Noodle House and let me know what I missed!

Meantime I couldn’t stop thinking of the palm reader and decided to give it a whirl – just for fun.  The lovely older gentleman was in the process of getting ready to abandon his station but happily greeted us and showed me to my seat.  There was something about his disposition and demeanor that felt gentle and sincere.  No matter, it was an entertaining few minutes and made for some fun photos.

He only asked for my first name and my birth date. Oh…his predictions?  I quote, “you are very smart, you will have good health and live long, long life.  You have no trouble with your children.” Words anyone would like to hear of course.  Even my man, Dan liked his forecast.  Need I say we walked away smiling and laughing as we made our way to a cafe for a bowl of won ton soup and a glass of wine.

A trip down thru downtown will offer you views of old and new Montreal.  Shiny new high rises give way to a bevy of older architectural styles, cathedrals, and high end shops as well as the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.   The downtown region houses many corporate headquarters as well as the majority of the city’s skyscrapers.

While visiting this area we made a discovery that you shouldn’t miss.  Mary Queen of the World Cathedral surrounded by modern Montreal seems out of place at first but her walls were built long before the glass and steel structures in her midst. Building began in 1875 on Quebec’s third largest church and certainly one it’s most impressive.  It’s well worth your time to stop here.  We were lucky enough to witness the end of a service and quietly took seats near the back until it was complete.

Mary Queen of the World Cathedral

Another popular area is rue Ste. Catherine which we heard was a must do.  I disagree, unless shopping stores that are in every town in America is your thing.  So for some of you this may very well be at the top of your list but for us the best thing it provided was an old fashioned barber shop where my man Dan got a much needed haircut and shave! Honestly the best he’s had in a very long time.

All the sight seeing surely makes one hungry and off the beaten path we found a delightful cafe. We  refueled ourselves with a Shrimp Poke Bowl and Flatbread piled high with mozzarella, proscuitto, arugula and balsamic drizzle.  Venice offers a groovy California feel, floor to ceiling windows opened up to the street and the menu is chock full of healthy, favorful choices.  Not full of tourists but more locals taking pleasure in a late lunch with family and friends.  Just my kind of place and the food was great!  I recommend Venice in the heart of downtown and old montreal!

My man Dan styling his plate for a photo before digging in to his lunch. Once a photographer – always a photographer. You can find him on Instagram @ bluki24.

As the sun sets on Montreal find yourself at Place Jacques Cartier to people watch, have a glass of wine and see the waterfront lit up. When the sun comes up plan on visiting the Montreal Botanical Gardens which face Olympic Stadium, an impressive site and quite a contrast to the lovely gardens.

You’re able to study Japanese bonsai in the Japanese Garden and learn about the principles of yin and yang at the Chinese Garden. There is a poisonous plant section, while herbs, vegetables and flowers are well marked with their botanical names and were quite appealing to me with my food interests. I also loved seeing an abundance of honey bees all over the gardens.  If you’ve got kids in tow chances are they’ll enjoy one of North America’s largest insectariums!

We found this to be a big city with plenty to offer us for our 2 days in Montreal.  I see another visit to Montreal in our future to try out more restaurants and visit the museums.  2 days in Montreal is just enough to see a few major sites and get a feel for the city.

I’ll be sharing restaurant thoughts of our entire trip – both Quebec and Montreal in a future post. I’ve got some amazing places to share in that post.  Hope you’ll stay tuned.